Feeling the Power to Change Old Financial Ways

This is a guest post byNatalie over at Everything Finance. Everything Finance is a site about just that, everything related to finance. You can get information about investing, saving money, insurance, shopping, blogging, and making money online.

There are millions of people out there that are stuck in an economic vicious cycle. They make money and then spend it all or even more than they have for one reason or another. This leads to a bad situation where one is constantly working just to pay off debt, and can lead to feelings of depression or restlessness. This cycle can be hard to break, especially if this is all that you have known. But the change has to start at some place.

I can personally speak to this phenomenon. Being in college and having low self-esteem can be the perfect recipe for crazy spending. I was guilty of spending giant amounts of cash on clothes and restaurants in order to uphold a certain image. I was obsessed at one time to blend in with the girls I saw in my classes. It is such a cliché, but I wanted to be like them, and emulated all the expensive things they owned. I came out of college with a mountain of credit card debt, but that was not enough for me. Shortly after, I continued to spend money on a house that my boyfriend had purchased. It wasn’t long before I was overwhelmed with debt, with a depressed attitude to boot.

My attitude towards money changed shortly after. I was just sick of checking the mail and seeing red envelopes from the credit card company. I was sick of charging everything because I didn’t have any money. I finally began to see money as a tool for the future, instead of just something to get me something in the present. I began reading as much as I could about personal finance and taking the steps to better the situation. I stopped the wasteful spending, and was finally able to get a hold of the crazy outpouring of money. I soon got a firm holding on my financial situation and became smarter of what was going on in my life.

Changing in the beginning can be very difficult. Setting a better attitude is the first step. Keeping a positive disposition is the next. Take the time to set up a budget that allows you to pay your bills, but still set aside something for the future. STOP the wasteful spending. Get the support of your family and friends so that you don’t revert back to the old ways. The most important thing is to make the change in your mind so that you stay on the right path, and finally get a chance to become economically secure.

Remember that change starts with you in regards to anything. Having that power to say enough is enough is very powerful in itself. Even if you fail once, remember that there is always time to start again. It will be completely worth it in the end when you can finally get some financial independence. This is when you will be happy that you made the change in the first place.

I remembered before a few years ago I received my 13th month pay but I didn’t enjoy my bonus because I only paid it for my debts. And it even came to the point that I don’t want to work anymore because my salary is just only for my debt payment. That’s why I’m trying my very best to avoid debt as long as I can.

There is nothing more gratifying than looking at your finances and knowing that you’re going to be okay (and not drowning in debt). A few years back I got into this system of doing my budget for a whole year rather than just one month. It allowed me to see if at any point throughout the year we were going to struggle. If we were, I’d simply adjust the budget until we were in the green each month. Then I had peace of mind for the next 12 months!!

It’s really hard to completely change your outlook on something, and I think it’s important for people to understand that it doesn’t happen all at once. It only happens with time and repetition. I always suggest just finding one small positive thing you can repeat every day and start there. Get so that that one thing is automatic and then move onto the next one. No one can change everything all at once but anyone can change one thing and let it grow from there.

Great post, Natalie. I love at the very end there, when you say that you always have a chance to try again. So true! It’s never too late to start, nor does one false start or failure mean you’ll never be successful. Try and try again, and eventually you will succeed in what you set out to do. Determination can take you an awfully long way.

One thing that made me change my personal finances was not feeling secure about the amount of cash we had in the bank. I want to be able to pay for emergencies (i.e. a broken water heater, furnace, etc.) and not be up at night worrying about how to pay for it. This has motivated me to make more money on top of my full-time job, save where ever I can, and most of all pursue a bigger emergency fund.

I can understand that whole keeping up appearances thing. It really gets old and not very fun after a while. I’d much rather know I have money left at the end of the month than have things, especially ones I didn’t even value that much.

“Stop the wasteful spending” is probably the line that hits closest to home for me. To be truthful, changing my former spending habits has been a challenge over the last year, but it hasn’t been as difficult as I imagined it to be when I first started.

Change is HARD. I can remember when trying to get out of CC debt I wanted instant gratification and didn’t want to do the dirty work of living with a lot less. But once the ball got rolling, the momentum really stared building and it got a lot easier and I felt so good about it that I wanted it to continue.

All throughout high school I felt inadequate because I never had the nice clothes that the popular kids did. Thankfully in college, there weren’t as many “cliques” and people were a bit more accepting. It can be so hard to ignore those feelings and only buy what you can afford (and need). I’ve always felt weird that I only have 3 pairs of boots/shoes I wear on a regular basis, when most women tend to have more. Shoes don’t make me happy, though, and I personally don’t see the need for 10 pairs of footwear, so that would be wasteful spending!

I can relate to this – at one point I did feel like I was just working to pay off debts and bills. It really was a depressing time! I agree that looking at things from a positive angle really helps – changing your mindset is really important and for me it took a long time for that change to happen.

Great concept that you can apply to any challenge in life, Natalie. As far as finances are concerned, our “enough is a enough” moment was actually forced upon us….it’s a rather eye opening experience when you realize you can no longer pay all your bills. Enough was definitely enough!

It is hard to change….especially as you get older. But, sometimes it needs to happen. Financial changes are sometimes the most difficult because you might have to give things up or change your lifestyle.

That is hard for a lot of people but I think its good too. Life is all about making choices.

Fit is the New Poor

I had a similar story with college. I was so lonely that I always felt like I needed to go above and beyond in spending and getting out of the dorm. I look back and shake my head. But now change is coming!

I can relate a lot as I was very much like this in college. I wish I could go back and shake my younger self as it took me awhile to change and did not want to admit it to myself. It can be difficult to change your ways when you’ve been doing something a certain way for so long, but once you do change it tends to stick even better.

I absolutely understand this. I was at a very “old money” college and I had “no money!” It was a recipe for disaster.

Student Debt Survivor

When I went to college I learned that I was “poor” compared to other people. Thankfully I found a great group of friends who didn’t care much about money or “things”, but it definitely was a culture shock for me for sure.

Tahnya Kristina

I absolutely can’t stand people who flock together based on the amount of money they have – it’s kind of like financial profiling and it very often excludes great people who just happen to not have a lot of money. Great post!

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